Neopets: Undercover
by sabrina-diamond
Summary: Sabrina and the Rebels are back! They are Undercover spies. A new danger lurks as the Shadow Master plans to destroy Neopia. Xenias awaits as the Owners unlock the power of the three Crystals. It could change Neopets into the ultimate creation...
1. Shards

**Neopets Undercover**

**Summary:** Sabrina and the Rebels are now Undercover spies. A new danger lurks as the Shadow Master plans to destroy Neopia. They have to go to a tomb called Xenias and unlock the power of the Crystal.

This Crystal has the power to either save Neopia... Or it could change Neopets into the ultimate creation.

But to do that they have to contact the last Rebel, who has the Crystal... Danger and fear awaits!

Please review!

"_Agent 028?"_ Sabrina flipped open her locator, hurriedly making sure no one was listening to what was happening in the affair. Alternate Neopia was in trouble again…

"Maxine?" she whispered, her hair flowed around her face like dark strands. "Any news lately? Dark happenings - or strange arrivals during the week… Anything?" A familiar face appeared onto the screen, one she knew very well. A flicker and it was gone, but his warm voice could still be heard.

"_The Shadow Master…"_ There was an interfering noise; Maxine's voice could be heard.

"_Theriacal Feldene strikes again; this is the third attack in five weeks..."_

"That's impossible; our Undercover Agency can't be this slow to process information." Her voice was desperate, having a hint of annoyance as well as denial.

"_This isn't like the Neopian movies, Sabre. This is serious, any day now Owners will be missing, Neopets will be stolen, mystery occurrences… Even King Karl is complaining."_

"You mean King Skarl, and Jeran," Sabrina responded. There was some boyish laughter at the other end; she guessed Maxine was having a humour session with the Rebels.

"_That's right,"_ Maxine chuckled; clearly she could hear the other Rebels laughing.

"Haven't being registered long have you?" She sharply responded at the Rebels' delight. She had never felt so embarrassed; everyone could hear her voice being broadcasted in the Neopets Undercover Headquarters.

"Oh right, what's the joke?" she said sarcastically, she was _not_ in the mood right now.

"_It's nothing personal, really… Uh, I think you're ready to come in now."_

"Affirmative?" She rubbed her radiating pendant- just for luck.

"Yes," Immediately, there was a whirling sound as Maxine appeared right in front of her, his joyful eyes were as usual graphite-grey.

The Neopian Owner looked giddy though, and nearly fell at her feet out of pure dizziness.

The tinny, bright white and vast teleport soon followed afterwards, falling to the ground the moment he entered the valid space.

The only difference as far as she could tell was the shades that Max was wearing over his recognisable eyes. "Teleport randomiser has been deactivated?" Mysteria the Lupe snuffled next to her feet, Maxine's response was of pure fear. "Yikes!" he muttered.

"Something is wrong, Max?" Sabrina inquired, feeling worried for her Neo-friend.

"Uh-h-huh… Yes, those new-fangled teleprocesses need- need working on… Nifty wires and stuff like that… Hopeless new technology you know." Maxine shook his head.

Just then there was an extremely loud zap as Aerie sprinted out of the teleport - with Clara Saris behind them? Maxine had to duck as Aerie landed into the bushes nearby, ruffling her feathers in a tactile way… The blonde haired girl whooped with joy.

"_YEEE-HAH!_ Arty-pie gotta see this!" yelled Clara as she attempted to lasso the giant Eyrie with a rope woven together from flax and twine, her golden hair shook proudly.

Of all the weird things that happened during Artesia, this was by far the strangest situation! Aerie cowered in some bushes, beak clicking in surprise.

"Clara -what in Alternate Neopia- are you doing?" sighed Sabrina. Clara cocked her Sabula hat in disdain. "Wha' it looks like pard-ner?" the blonde haired Owner said, adopting a cockney accent. "Just lassoin' Darla's Eyrie, for Art here!"

"CLARA!!!" yelled Art, his head popped out of the teleport, startling Mysteria as long dark hair covered part of his face. "Tell me, dear Clara, have you been lying again?!"  
"I wasn't lying, just bragging! After all, bragging is an eloquent-" Clara laughed silverly.

"Art form, yeah, yeah?" Art tiredly said, rolling his eyes. "Come on, we have to go."

_The Xenias Crystal shards,_

_Broken once, split to halves.  
Fell to Neopia as mystical parts _

_They are the universe's art._

_Upon opening the tainted Tomb,_

_Listen for the impending doom._

_Feldene's skill will cause Neolution,_

_They shall be ruled by untold fusion._

**Xenias: **(Zē-nĭ-a-_th)_ _A mythical Alt-Neopian tomb said to contain curiosities not known since human/Neopian settlement. Once revered for its glory, it is claimed that Xenias itself was used for unspeakable dark arts, which also contained pitfalls and traps. An archaeological dig near Maquara's north coast confirms this case, but the location is virtually unknown as no one can verify whether the tomb's myth is true or not._

"So if that is the case, what do these two sources have to do with the Crystals? I don't quite get it…" asked Clara, wiping her eyes out of tiredness.

"Don't you get it?" sighed Maxine, he was exhausted from explaining the concept.

"It means that all of those attacks that have been happening around the continents have been related to this single location! Feldene is in charge of all of these plans."

("With such a long name like _Theriacal Feldene, _what else can you expect?" noted Art.)

"Aye," Rexford growled lowly, his Gelert ears were pointed downwards in anger. "That Te-_rrrr-_ical person must be igniting something terrible." Stiffly, Rex stood, his usually friendly face was transformed into a scowl at the thought.  
"Neo-geddon anyone?" suggested Paws the Kougra, licking his fur. "I think that this Theriac person wants more than just attention, he wants fear… And lots of it."

"More importantly, there's a crisis involving paint-brushes." Kassiko joked. Everybody in the room glared at the humorous female Lenny. "What? What did I say?!"

"Paint-brushes…" Art smiled as he thought. "Evolution of… every Neopet."

"Neopets can… Evolve?! Are you kidding?" The murmurs went around the room. Even Galatia, the ex-Arena Master was adamant, "WHAT do you think you're saying, Willis?"

"Besides… Galatia, there's a lot more to this issue than first thought…" Art proclaimed, the ex-Wielder wanted to relieve the tension in the room but realised it was too late, the secret was already out.

"WHAT THE-!" yelled Max in unusual anger; everybody winced at his tone of voice, "How come we weren't informed about this, Art Willis?"  
"It's… It's just because I got some more information from the attacks. All the Owners that were attacked were carrying… These crystals, as it would have to be seen."

The usually humorous boy pointed to the table, where a tiny group of stones appeared suddenly. One stone was neon-blue with glints of crystal embedded in it; another was crystalline with the properties of an opal. The last one was indescribable; it was simply covered with an energy field which flickers alternately a dark fiery crimson-red and then a contrasting lapis blue… Every Neopet in the room gasped with horror, they knew what these crystalline-stones were.

"Parts of the Xenias Crystal!" yelled Mysteria.


	2. Count Down to Shadows

**Neopets Undercover**

**Chapter 2:** Count-down

**Author's Notes: **Oooh, now it gets serious for you Neopets readers...

What is this Xenias Crystal doing to the Owners? Who is Cypriot? Why is Feldene so interested in the last Rebel: )

_The unnatural lights in the room flickered densely, highlighting the malicious smirk of Feldene. As his eyes glow vivid green, Feldene crossed the room and inspected his struggling bounty._

The powerful force field around the victim grew stronger than ever, as a teenage girl with red streaks in her brown hair shouted for mercy.

"Let me go! I know what you want!" _a bold female voice yelled, _"You are Feldene, the Shadow Master! You won't get your hands on the Rebels!" _Just then, the shadows intensified as a young male voice snarled deeply, like a throaty roar unlike any person. _

"You are the final Rebel and you have the last crystal with you… Did that Quinn give you a new lease at life? That helper won't help you anymore. In that case- I won't let you or your _–Superior_ Neopets go!" _A glittering blue Lupe with iron claws and a whiplash tail whimpered beneath the girl's feet. _

"Madison, run! RUN!"_ pleaded the multi-haired teenager. Madison obeyed her as the dark figure turned its unseen head. Without a word, the figure blinked its eyes and the Neopet froze in its track, turning to stone as she watched. _

_Before she could scream, Feldene penetrated the force-field and pushed a harshly pulsating crystal into her hands. Pain immediately wracked her body; such intense pain tingled and seared wholly before her mind descended into an endless darkness…  
_

Meanwhile, in another part of Alternate Neopia

A dark-haired, tall girl was running with her Gnorbu towards the place of the Alverine Library. "Rachel Rosetta!" called the aged Lenny Librarian outside the reading centre… The day was stormy, and thunder cracked occasionally across the sky.

"I do not want you running around the Library after ten; and do you understand me at all?" The girl was holding something in her hand that seemed like a shard of an unknown substance. The librarian squawked with fright, flustering his feathers.

"Come on," mimicked Rachel, she imitated the librarian perfectly with a mocking Asian accent. The spectacled and light blue Lenny could only gape widely at this convincing effort of a satire. "Don't you understand I have other matters to attend to-?"

"Come back here!!!" The aged and cracked voice called as the Gnorbu and her Owner ran on… They laughed at the Lenny's futile efforts to catch them in vain. After a few minutes they gave up and rested in the shade of a tree, as other Owners passed by unknowingly…

"Brill!" smiled Rachel, "We have lost him, that misery old, unplanned Lenny!" The young teenaged girl laughed and her Gnorbu giggled along with her.

"Now, I wonder what this stone does." As she touched it, there was a loud and extreme _ZAP _as though lightning had struck! Confused, her Gnorbu looked around, shaking its hooves in fear. But it relaxed when a voice shouted.

"HEY? WHAT HAVE I DONE-?" It was Rachel's voice but very different!

"MEEE-PIT! MEEP! MEEP! Meeeeeeeee-eep..." cursed Rachel in her new tiny and pink form… (She was now talking in Mephenesin, a language only Meepits knew…)

"Help me out of this!" called Rachel, waddling over towards her stocky Neopet.

Suddenly, there was a dark shadow cast over her small form… "My, my, who have we had here?" chuckled a tall and seductive teenage girl with long white hair.

The girl was wearing some dark trendy blue jeans, with some golden meandering bracelets on her slender wrists... Rachel's Gnorbu shrieked with anger at the handling of her Owner...

"Oh, it's a cute little Meepit! Just as well, Feldene will be pleased with me…" cooed Cypress. The girl picked up the stone beside Rachel-Meepit. The unnatural girl chuckled evilly, the leek-green slitted eyes glinting with... Hunger.

"It seems our little Meepit friend has been messing with the Dark Arts again… And the Xenias tomb awaits all Neopets to undergo a metamorphosis unlike any seen before." She spoke directly to Rachel, fixing her eyes onto her victim…  
"Dark Arts?!" whimpered Rachel.

"Like I said to you before, Rachel Rosetta… _Metamorphosis_ awaits all Neopets!"

Cypress crowed with glee.

"Like my new form that _he _fixed for me…? And you won't tell _anyone!"_

It was then that Rachel realised _what_ the bracelets had now represented… _Why didn't she see the significance before-? _

Rachel screamed with an unbound terror as Cypress transformed into a monstrous being...

The last thing she saw was Cypress licking her lips as her Gnorbu gasped with horror...

"_Ye Ixis! Scoundrels," yelled the Salvadorian shopkeeper as he shut his shop down for the day…The mean-spirited Owner chuckled, soon it would be time for his gift… He glanced at the unusual stone that they almost 'stalled' – _

_Well, there won't be any thieves around his store for tomorrow…He made sure he had put a darkly fearsome Bearog Pet-pet at the door! Sneakily he looked around, no one was browsing his wares - or pinching any items from his dusty inventory…! _

'_YOU WON'T need that stone! Now, drop it…' There was a voice in his head as the Salvador dropped his stone in surprise… It sounded inhuman, almost bestial. The stone rolled to the floor, rounded edges glinting with a sort of power-rush… _

Power-rushhhh, the stone seemed to speak…Feeling the edges of his desk, Owner clung to the remaining Neopoints of his account.

"_Who or what are you?" asked the Owner in a paused surprise, the words were rolling out on their own… He must have sounded ridiculous talking to himself… The invisible being did not answer the question; instead the male Owner was confronted with… His Fire Neopet, Gnol. _

_Sighing with relief, the Owner could only cry out his warning… "Gnol, you have to-" The Owner swallowed suddenly, his own fear was paralysing him…With approval, the Neopet smiled eerily, revealing sharp teeth…_

_'Do what?' The Neopet spoke slowly, accenting her anger. 'Feldene is calling me about that stone… That Crystal Shard… All Neopets will transform… Into the ultimate combined creation…! Human owners will be ruled by their elemental Neopets.' _

_Gnol's voice sounded harsh in the darkness, the only voice speaking, spelling out words of darkness, words of whispered unknowns… "No… Feldene told you of these things…! Stop it," The Owner whimpered…Holding his hands over his ears. _

_Still the Gnol's deathly tone continued…'Sun of the Xenias tomb, Feldene's prevailing over all snares of power… What will come of you, my once dearest Owner…When the Deceiver of Alternate Neopia... Slays those of the Rebel's time-line?' _

_The Neopet charged at her former Owner… The last thing he saw was his fire Neopet burning like an unquenched flame… Merging into the night, the sharpness of his screams couldn't stop the storms from coming from tumbling down... _

_The whole Alternate world was awakening to the recent disasters; heart-breaking cries were heard in the street as the Deceiver was carrying out his commands. Several Neopets were announcing their return to the Xenias Tomb, to the bewilderments of their Owners… _

_Still the whirling and powerful storms raged, pouring down their wrath onto the Neopian continents… Such a whirlpool of betrayal, such unquestionable power was demonstrated on this day that the Owners had no doubt what was going on… _

Someone or something was deterring their Neopets… Transforming them into monsters of Owner-destruction…

_And who ever was responsible for this mayhem must be stopped at all costs…! _

_No matter _what_ the consequences…! _

"It has begun, the countdown has _started…" _


	3. He who Casts the Stone First

**Neopets Undercover**

**Chapter 3:** He Who Casts the Stone First

_Hello. Oh, it's Maxine here… I usually keep my memories secret, but you can listen… _

_(Maxine fidgets embarrassedly) _

_Well, it's not quite as I thought; Feldene seems to be targeting only those with energy which matches the same level as the crystals. And those strange combined Neopets… They are popping up everywhere, even near the Headquarters. The opal crystal seems to accelerate combinations. _

_I've put the indexed Neopet combinations into a recent invention that Darla invented (smart girl, I have to admit) called a Neopet-Dextro ('Neo-Dex' for short). _

_Similar to an ID system, but it is a little more complicated to my likings. It lists all the abilities they have, their annotated names (Kogracky, Luni and Peoria… among others) and their levels. (All of them are high levels, could it be the Xenias tomb?) This device is an electronic sensor. _

_Anyway, that is not what I was going to reveal… It's something more personal. _

_(Max takes a deep breath) I have severe Cynophobia (fear of canine Neopets), but my phobia of any Lupe was triggered way before I was leader of the Rebels Resistance... _

_Calais was there, I just wish I got out of that place soon enough, but I was still young… About 13, seeing as I'm about 18 and half now… Forget it; I'm going to flash-back for your benefit._

Five years ago…

A blue haired boy looked out towards the dim outline of the Outlands plains… His graphite eyes were wide and focused on the girl sitting next to him. He was shocked and yet he had known. "Let me get this straight, Dana… You're asking me to become a leader?!"

"Maxine, it is either you become the leader of us all - or that other older Owner called Calais Felix…" the purple haired girl told him. "And it also seems, like that annoying boy been nothing but joking about the election - ever since he came with us recently…"

The Eyrie screeched its agreement, "I do not think Calais is a proper candidate either!"

"Yeah, right…" muttered Maxine, good-naturedly… That was before a perfectly finned Peophin unloaded its heavy cargo with a swish of its tail, splashing fungous lake water everywhere…

The water dripped onto poor Maxine and Dana, who both glared at the two occupants on the glowing equestrian-fish Neopet.

The red equestrian Neopet, Phoebe, revealed her Owner stepping down from the double finned tails. Calais had just taken an unwilling Kali Star for a dizzying spin on his Peophin…

Soon a green haired girl also trumped down, she seemed furious at the golden haired jokester.

"Calais. I told you that Phoebe shouldn't take too many rounds…!" she screamed at him…

Maxine just had to laugh at the irony… Imagine, Calais actually taking a decent scolding from that vain Kali Star… Certainly the most humorous part of his day…!

"… So the Kiko told the Ixi that _I can't swim, I'm too kicked out!_"

Kali Star groaned at Calais's pathetic punch-line yet again. "Calais, enough is enough!"

The green haired girl yelled at the blond haired boy, "You cannot, I repeat, cannot make any Neopet jokes sound worse than they actually are! Shut up _your_ trap about the voting process!"

"There is only one way to settle this fiasco - once and for all." announced Calais jokingly, as the Diaconate roared its welcome. Then suddenly, the atmosphere changed around him, becoming more purposeful and... Became more menacing in nature.

Smirking, he brushed his yellowish hair with glee; the green eyes were twinkling merrily. With that, he pointed his hand towards the surprised Maxine, spinning around once on his heel quickly and lightly like a natural Kougra…

"I challenge you to a gruelling contest of _determination!"_

"Determination?" gasped Maxine, "Oh no, you're not going to force me- into this…!" Immediately, Calais changed his demeanour once again, his voice had a tone of carelessness…

"Well then, if not then we would be in a tie wouldn't we-? And we wouldn't want that to happen, right?" Dana just happened to be listening onto the conversation…

"Boys, you don't need to fight amongst yourselves…!" she chided. There was no reply to this.

"I'll meet you at the other side of this hill… Maximillan; sooner than you think…" Calais chuckled briefly while glancing at his rival. Kali stifled a groan; Calais's grammar seemed to be out of whack as well...

Maxine just shrugged; the words would not break his bones anyway… But the contest could.

When Calais was far enough away from the rest of the Rebels, he faced Maxine with a sneer on his lips… "So this is it, no more fooling around!"

"But I thought-" Maxine protested… "I thought that you would be honest with me for once."  
"Hah, honest do you think, Mummy's boy? What sort of Owner would be called Maxine?"

Maxine could see the glare in Calais's eyes, the sort that penetrated your soul with dread…

"My mother back on Earth, she wanted a girl… But instead she got me, so the name stuck…"  
"What-?" Calais frowned, "So when you registered here - you could have changed your name!"

"I would rather be honoured… I chose to keep it." Maxine said as he leaned against a tree.  
"Foolish Maxine, you're so naïve. The Artesian world is tough. Here, grab a look at this!"

Abruptly, Calais ran ahead of him and suddenly they reached a cave. Max was about to speak, but the boy shushed him… There was a snoring sound coming from the depths of the cave.

"Ever heard of a R.E.?" asked Calais. "They are very RARE…" He chuckled deeply.

"A Random Event, it would seem?" Maxine clarified… The other boy nodded with glee.

"The first boy, who gets a battle Random Event and wins it, will be the leader…!"

"Which would also mean…?" Maxine couldn't finish the sentence out of dread.

"We have to fight the King of the wild Lupes pack; he is called Holyoke and level 32."  
"LEVEL 32-! We'll never defeat that beast of a Neopet!" screamed Maxine.

At this, Holyoke woke up from his afternoon nap.

The wild and frenzied great Lupe looked through his tangled hairy fur, which was barely saveable from knots.

With no need to howl, the great wild Lupe sent a disturbing message through the air, towards the outside…

_WHO DARES DISTURB THE SACRED DEN OF HOLYOKE?! _

Maxine blanched.

"It is I, Maxine, soon to be leader of the Rebels…" The boy squeaked. Holy grunted with anger.

_Then you must pay the price for interruption… Maxine._

A dark shape lunged at the boy. With a slash, two claws caught the side of his face, which then grazed his cheeks. This caused two twin scars to appear, blood streaming. Without hesitation, the disgruntled Lupe did the same to the other cheek.

_I pronounce you an enemy of the wild Outland Neopets… Forever shall I rage!_

In a hurry to get ahead, Calais picked up the hollow fang lying on the ground.

Holy noticed this and immediately leapt off Maxine.

_Don't you dare touch the fang, it was my BABY TOOOOTH!_

In fear, Maxine ran up the tree he had previously leant on. With a sneer, Calais ran on ahead, leaving his rival behind as Holy chased him through the plains...

"Wait, come back here!" called Maxine halfway up the tree…

A full ten minutes later, he was accompanied by a strange companion... A brown, baby Gelert who was abandoned by his tribe.

The baby canine Neopet howled and cried at the base of the tree, yelping for someone (anyone) to help its hopeless plight…

So Maxine decided that not all canine Neopets were that fearsome and adopted the Gelert, which he now called…

"I think I'll call you… Rexford." Maxine decided, "Right after I get down from this tree."  
"Aye," Rexford grinned and panted, speaking its first word, "aye, aye and aye!"

It was a little while before Maxine was rescued; Dana managed to figure out where Maxine was - through what or which means were unknown to the rest of the Rebels.

("Maybe she has a little bit of a 'seer' in her genes," laughed Kali Star later on.)

But the result of the contest was less than satisfactory for Calais…

Maxine had won the admiration of Kali, Gardenia and Dana - because they knew that he fought a King of the Wild Lupes and had both the scars and injuries to prove it… The voting was unanimous…!

Calais however did not manage to fight Holyoke because he had cheated… And therefore lost the contest which happened because he brought a little 'war prize' home…

Much to the chargin of himself.

"Calais Felix, because you scavenged Holyoke's supply for your own gains, and did not fight Holyoke, I pronounce Maxine as the leader of the Rebels." Dana decided.

The older Owner had exploded with rage. Rexford barked behind Maxine, a new Neopet for the Rebels. Maxine ignored Calais, that hot-headed Owner!

"YOU WHAT-? Just because Maxine has the two scars, you now sympathise with him! I did all the hard work, look what I brought – a Wild Lupe fang!" Calais cast a dirty look toward Maxine.

His features were twisted with jealousy beyond any other emotion - and mainly hatred.  
"Now it's _personal…!"_ he snarled at Maxine. "Just you wait!"

"For what?" asked Maxine innocently, Calais just huffed…


End file.
